Gong Li Most Beautiful Chinese-born Singaporean film actress

 

Date of Birth:

31 December 1965, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China

Height:

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Mini Biography:

Gong Li (born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese-born Singaporean film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States.
She has twice been awarded the Golden Rooster and the Hundred Flowers Awards as well as the Berlinale Camera, Cannes Festival Trophy, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle Award, and Volpi Cup.
She married Singaporean businessman Ooi Hoe Soeng in 1996, and became a Singaporean citizen in 2008.

 

Spouse:

Ooi Wei Ming

(15 February 1996 - present) (separated)

Trivia:

Was included in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
Representative of Shanghai Tang line of clothing.
Graduated from the Central Drama Academy in Beijing (1989)
Personal favorites: Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman
Received New York Film Critics award for Farewell My Concubine (1993) (aka Farewell My Concubine).
Head juror of the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival
Head juror of the 2002 Venice Film Festival
Head juror of the 2003 Tokyo International Film Festival
Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997
Her performance as Juxian in Farewell My Concubine (1993) (aka "Farewell My Concubine") (1993) is ranked #89 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
The youngest of five children.
Had a song written about her by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Gong Li").
She was presented the French government's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in June 1998 for contributions to the cinema.
Was chosen and honored as one of TIME Magazine's "60 Years of Asian Heroes".
Youngest person to be honored with the "Trophy of the Festival" award at Cannes.
Can understand English but is uncomfortable in speaking it off camera and in interviews. Usually finds its easier to learn her lines for her English speaking roles phonetically.
Michael Mann and Rob Marshall refer to her as the "Meryl Streep of China".
Beauty ambassador for L'Oreal cosmetics.

Her father and her older sister both died of cancer.
Voted "Most beautiful woman in China" 2006.
#52 on Premiere magazines "100 sexiest movie stars of all time" (2008).
Appointed in 2008 by the United Nations(UNEP) as the "Global Environmental Ambassador", along with Mikhail Gorbachev , Richard Branson, Samuel Etoo Angelique Kinjo, Gabriel Yared.
Recipient of the 2007 Chinese World Influence Award.
Named one of CNN's "25 greatest Asian actors of all time".
In 2010 Gong Li was presented with the "Commandeur of the Legion of Honor" the highest decoration from the French government. She is the only Chinese woman ever to receive it.
First Chinese actress/actor on the cover of TIME magazine.

Early life:

Gong Li was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, the youngest in a family of five children. Her father was a professor of economics and her mother, who was 40 when Gong was born, was a teacher.Gong grew up in Jinan, the capital of Shandong.
In 1985, Gong sought to study at China's top music school, but was denied entrance. Later that same year, she was accepted to the prestigious Central Academy of Drama in Beijing and graduated in 1989.While a student at the Central Academy of Drama, she was discovered by Zhang Yimou, who chose her for the lead role in Red Sorghum, his first film as a director.

 

Personal life:

Her collaboration with director Zhang Yimou was highly publicized. A film she made with Zhang (To Live) (1995) ended their professional relationship; the film was banned in China. They were reunited in 2006 for Zhang's Curse of the Golden Flower.
In 1996, news began circulating that Gong had married the Singaporean tobacco tycoon, Ooi Hoe Soeng . They were married in November 1996 at Hong Kong's China Club.
She was voted the most beautiful woman in China in 2006.
Gong Li applied for Singapore citizenship in early 2008.When overseas professional obligations prevented her from showing up at her scheduled August citizenship ceremony, she was harshly criticized for not making it a priority. On Saturday, 8 November 2008, Gong, in an effort to make amends, attended a citizenship ceremony held at Teck Ghee Community Club and received her Singapore citizenship certificate from Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah.
On 28 June 2010, the chief editor of Chinese entertainment magazine "Southern Entertainment Magazine" revealed that Gong's agent confirmed that Gong Li and her husband had divorced.
Gong was a spokeswoman for Shanghai Tang clothing store.

 

Pictures Collection:

Gong Li With Aishwariya Roy Bachan

Filmography:

 

Year	Title	Role	Awards
1987	Red Sorghum	Jiu'er
1989	The Empress Dowager	Guilian
	Mr. Sunshine
	Codename Cougar	Ah Li	Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990	A Terracotta Warrior	Winter/Lili Chu	Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress
	Ju Dou	Ju Dou	First Chinese film nominated for an Academy Award, entered at Cannes
1991	God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai	Yu-Sin/Yu-Mong
	Raise the Red Lantern	Songlian	Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Actress
	The Banquet	Waitress at banquet
1992	The Story of Qiu Ju	Qiu Ju	Golden Rooster Awards for Best Actress Volpi Cup for Best Actress Golden Phoenix Awards for Best Female Actor
	Mary from Beijing	Mary
1993	Farewell My Concubine	Juxian	New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Flirting Scholar	Chou Heung
1994	Dragon Chronicles: The Maidens of Heavenly Mountain	Mo Han-Wen
	A Soul Haunted by Painting	Pan Yuliang
	To Live	Xu Jiazhen	Nominated – Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
	The Great Conqueror's Concubine	Lü Zhi
1995	Shanghai Triad	Xiao Jingbao
1996	Temptress Moon	Pang Ruyi	Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress
1997	Chinese Box	Vivian
1998	The Emperor and the Assassin	Lady Zhao
2000	Breaking the Silence	Sun Liying	Golden Rooster Awards for Best Actress Montreal World Film Festival for Best Actress Golden Phoenix Awards for Best Actress Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Actress Shanghai Film Critics Awards for Best Actress
2002	Zhou Yu's Train	Zhou Yu	Students' Choice Award for Favourite Actress
2004	2046	Su Li Zhen	Wong Kar-wai, director
	Eros	Miss Hua
2005	Memoirs of a Geisha	Hatsumomo	National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
2006	Miami Vice	Isabella
	Curse of the Golden Flower	Empress Phoenix	Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress Hong Kong Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated – Asian Film Awards for Best Actress
2007	Hannibal Rising	Lady Murasaki Shikibu Lecter
2010	Shanghai	Anna Lan-Ting
2011	What Women Want	Li Yilong